Isaiah 22:3

All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far. ALL THY RULERS - or generals (Joshua 10:24; Judges 11:6; Judges 11:11); Hebrew, quatzin. THEY ARE BOUND. So Hebrew, ussaru; i:e., 'are taken captive.' BY THE ARCHERS - literally, by the bow. So Isaiah 21:17. Syriac translation, 'are retarded from laying hold of the bow'-literally, 'are bound (Hebrew, min (H4480)) from the bow;' i:e.,...

3._All thy rulers are fled together. _This verse has been interpreted in various ways. The fact is abundantly plain, but there is some difficulty about the words. As מ (_mem_) signifies _before _and _more than_, some explain מרחוק (_mĕrāchōk_) (77) to mean, “They fled before others, though they were situated in the most distant parts of the country, and were in greater danger.” Others render it, “Although they were at a great distance from Jerusalem, still they did not cease to flee like men who are seized with terror, and never stop in their flight, because they continually think that the enemy is at their heels.” But a more natural interpretation appears to me to be. _They have fled from afar; _that is, “they who have resorted to Jerusalem as a safe retreat will be seized by enemies and vanquished;” for Jeru

1-7 Why is Jerusalem in such terror? Her slain men are not slain with the sword, but with famine; or, slain with fear, disheartened. Their rulers fled, but were overtaken. The servants of God, who foresee and warn sinners of coming miseries, are affected by the prospect. But all the horrors of a city taken by storm, faintly shadow forth the terrors of the day of wrath....

Verse Isaiah 22:3. _ALL THY RULERS - ARE BOUND BY THE ARCHERS_ - "All thy leaders - are fled from the bow"] There seems to be somewhat of an inconsistency in the sense according to the present reading. If the leaders were bound, אסרו _usseru_, how could they flee away? for their being bound, according to the obvious construction and course of the sentence, is a circumstance prior to their flight. I therefore follow _Houbigant_, who reads הסרו _huseru, remoti sunt_, "they are gone off." גלו _galu, transmigraverunt, Chaldee_; which seems to confirm this emendation....

ALL THY RULERS ARE FLED TOGETHER - The general idea in this verse is plain. It is designed to describe the consternation which would take place on the approach of the invader, and especially the timidity and flight of those on whom the city relied for protection and defense. Hence, instead of entering calmly and firmly on the work of defense, no inconsiderable part of the rulers of the city are represented as fleeing from the city, and refusing to remain to protect the capital. The word rendered ‘thy rulers’ (קציניך _qitsiynayik_) denotes either the civil rulers of the city, or military leaders. It is most usually applied to the latter Joshua 10:24; Judges 11:6, Judges

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 22:1 A PROPHECY AGAINST JERUSALEM. The prophet, present in Jerusalem, either actually, or at any rate in spirit, _sees _the inhabitants crowded together upon the housetops, in a state of boisterous merriment (Isaiah 22:1, Isaiah 22:2). Outside the walls is a foreign army threatening the town (Isaiah 22:5). Preparations have been made for resistance, which are described (Isaiah 22:8); but there has been no turning to God. On the contrary, the dange

ALL THY RULERS ARE FLED TOGETHER,.... Either the rulers of Jerusalem, civil and ecclesiastical, that should have been at the head of the people, and have encouraged them, fled together to the housetops, or to the temple and strongholds; or the generals and officers of their militia, one and all of them fled, as if they had done it by joint consultation and consent; or the rulers of the several cities of Judea, which, when invaded by Sennacherib, stayed not to defend them, but left them and fled: THEY ARE BOUND BY THE ARCHERS; or, "from the bow" m; from using it; were in such a consternation, and under such a panic, that they had no strength nor heart to draw the bow, but were as if they were bound, and held from it: or for fear of the bow, or the archers in the Assyrian army, and therefore fled from them, as the Tigurine version renders it, joining it to the preceding clause, "they fled...

CHAPTER 22 The Burden of the Valley of Vision (Jerusalem) 1. _Jerusalem's deplorable state (Isaiah 22:1)_ 2. _The invading armies (Isaiah 22:5)_ 3. _The siege and the calamity (Isaiah 22:8)_ 4. _Shebna (Isaiah 22:15)_ 5. _Eliakim (Isaiah 22:20)_ This is another intensely interesting prophecy. Jerusalem has passed through many sieges and at last in part the prophecy has been fulfilled. But there is another siege of Jerusalem impending. It will come after the message of the fall of the final Babylon. See...

JERUSALEM'S INEXCUSABLE FRIVOLITY. The prophecy apparently belongs to the time of Sennacherib's invasion. Its menacing tone contrasts with that of some other prophecies of the time. The people had provoked Isaiah's sternest anger by giving themselves up to festivity. Probably this was after the siege had been raised, either temporarily or when Sennacherib's army had been withdrawn after the disaster recorded in Isaiah 37:36. In the reaction caused by this relief the inhabitants recklessly surrendered themselves to riotous merriment, recognising (Isaiah 22:13) that they might still be doomed to die. The valley of vision cannot be Jerusalem itself, for it was no valley, but must be some valley in the neighbourhood. It seems to mean the valley concerning which the vision was seen. The prophet is amazed a

FROM FAR. afar, or far away....